Pirates' Rafael Flores gives glimpse of hard-hitting future on 1st major league hit

Rafael Flores had turned his first major-league at-bat into a battle, working seven pitches against Matthew Boyd in the second inning before the Chicago Cubs left-hander fooled him with a full-count changeup that sent Flores down swinging for a strikeout.

“I wasn’t expecting a 3-2 changeup there,” Flores said. “I thought he was going to challenge me, but it definitely set the tone for the rest of the ABs. They knew I was going to go up there swinging, and I set myself up for the rest of the day.”

When Boyd threw another changeup, this time on a 3-1 count, Flores was waiting for it. The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie smoked a double to left field for the first hit of his major-league career Wednesday afternoon in an 8-4 loss to the Cubs at PNC Park.

“I knew 3-1 count, I’m probably not getting a heater, so he hung that changeup and I just tried to put my best swing on it,” said Flores, who hit 27 doubles this season, split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Indianapolis. “Oh man, it felt good. We’ve had a few of those this year, but that one just felt a little more special.”

First MLB hit for @Pirates No. 8 prospect Rafael Flores goes for extra bases! pic.twitter.com/WhZIEjar9m

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 17, 2025

Flores belted the ball at a 108.6 mph exit velocity — the fourth-hardest hit of the game — which also proved prescient. He saw an 0-1 cutter away in the fifth inning from Aaron Civale and barreled it at a 105.8 mph exit velocity, but Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner made a brilliant backhand stop to turn it into a groundout.

Flores worked eight pitches against Drew Pomeranz and took a knuckle-curve in the dirt to draw a full-count walk in his final at-bat in the eighth inning.

The 24-year-old catcher/first baseman, acquired from the New York Yankees as part of the return package for David Bednar at the trade deadline in late July, delivered the best collection of plate appearances of the day for the Pirates in his major-league debut.

“I thought he had great at-bats,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “Swung the bat really well, was all over some pitches. Really crushed that ball to left-center and hammered that ball up the middle. Hoerner made a nice play on it. But I thought he had great at-bats today.”

Kelly said he was impressed with the confidence the 6-foot-4, 232-pound Flores displayed upon his arrival Tuesday. Flores hit the ground running, even catching Mitch Keller’s bullpen session.

“The personality and the way that he’s carried himself in the first few days up here, the way he’s worked tirelessly, jumping in and catching bullpens right away, optional BP, finding a way to run out and run from the bullpen and out to the field to get swings in, taking ground balls every day at first base, all the meetings that he’s been a part of,” Kelly said. “It’s been a crash course the first couple days, but he’s seemed to have handled it really well.”

Flores also handled playing first base well, despite a throwing error by reliever Yohan Ramirez in a three-run sixth inning that proved to be a turning point in the game. Flores was on the receiving end of an 8-6-3 double play to finish the frame in the seventh.

“These are moments you’re never really going to forget, especially in, hopefully, a long and healthy career. … It’s what you dream of, playing against your favorite team growing up.”

Rafael Flores reflects on his MLB debut ???? pic.twitter.com/HuhffZ1HOu

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) September 17, 2025

Even in defeat, Flores couldn’t stop smiling.

“It was fun,” he said. “I mean, it’s what you expect. It’s just big-league baseball, and you get the first one out of the way. It feels great. It feels great.”

Another thing that was great for Flores was having his sister, Maria, brother-in-law Isidro Cuevas and their children at PNC Park for his debut. They have supported his baseball career since he was young, so they were his first phone call when he learned he was being promoted.

“I haven’t seen them for nine months, so it was great to have them here for this day, for this moment,” Flores said. “These are moments you’re never really going to forget, especially in, hopefully, a long, healthy career. It was all good.”

That Flores made his MLB debut against the Cubs also was special, given that Alfonso Soriano was his childhood hero and the Cubs his favorite team. Perhaps the best part of his debut is that Flores has a memento for his mother, Silvia, in Anaheim.

“I’m probably just going to ship it back home,” Flores said of his first-hit ball. “My mom wasn’t able to make it, but at least she’ll be able to have the ball before me and cherish it before me.”

The experience only increased Flores’ confidence that he belongs in the majors, given what a whirlwind his world has been since the trade. He is looking forward to enjoying the final three games of the homestand against the Athletics and the road trips to Cincinnati and Atlanta.

“I think it’s easy to go out there and be nervous and jittery and expect to fill shoes but, like I said, I’m going to try and be myself,” Flores said. “I’m going to try and laugh, smile, talk to the guys and kind of be myself. I think that’s what’s going to hold me the rest of these few games that we got left.”